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‘Kuala Lumpur BY Cycle’ is the latest tourism programme developed under VisitKL initiated by Kuala Lumpur City Hall. Visitors and tourists to KL, can now rent a bicycle to explore the sites of the city within the designated cycle zone which covers the nature route of the heritage zone around the Dataran Merdaka, and the Tun Abdul Razak Heritage Park.

Tourists have the option of the free & easy cycle package for the flexibility and freedom to explore on their own the city’s heritage sites with stops at the Perdana Botanical Garden. While the guided cycle tour, the first of its kind in Malaysia, are conducted in groups of 8 to 12. Each rider is provided with a set of headphones to listen to a running commentary of the sites as they cycle.

Rental fees for the bicycle are at RM 30 for the free & easy package for the first four hours, and RM 5 for subsequent hours. The guided tours are at RM 45 and tourists can, continue to ride after the tour is over. The bicycles are available at the Kuala Lumpur BY Cycle Centre located at the KL City Gallery with a refundable deposit of RM 250 payable when collecting the bicycles.

Reflecting on the growing demands of travelling abroad for sports like cycling, diving, golfing, hiking and skiing, a Sport Tourism Pavilion will be staged at the ITE & MICE show this year.

The pavilion is set up to help visitors in finding information, service providers and products of sport tourism from travel agents, specialists, tourism boards, hotels and resorts. For easy identification, the pavilion will have its own colour scheme, banners and posters, and an information stand with lists of exhibitors, as well as seminars. To promote further this industry, ITE & MICE will publicise and have advertisements on sport tourism.

There were already sport tourism exhibitors in previous ITE & MICE such as on skiing in Japan, cycling in Taiwan, and destinations that are popular for golfing, hiking and adventures. This year the pavilion hopes to attract even more related exhibitors.

ITE & MICE exhibition is from June 13 to 16 at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre.

This year’s Chinese Lunar New Year was celebrated by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall with tourists, visitors and members of the media. A cultural festival at the historical Merdeka Square (Dataran Merdeka) with a number of activities ranging from a dragon dance, lion dance, drum beating, acrobatic act and the tossing of the “Yee Sang”. The Mayor of Kuala Lumpur, Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal Talib was present to usher in the Year of the Snake.

Organised by the Tourism Unit of Kuala Lumpur City Hall and Kuala Lumpur City Gallery.

A warm welcome at the Jeju International Airport by representatives of Jeju Tourism Organization headed by Ms Song Ha-Young of the convergence and strategy department.

Row 1: Visit to a folk village with houses of grass roofs and dol hareubang stone statues which resemble old grandfathers.

Row 2: Feast of Korean dishes and the famous tangerine from Jeju.

Row 3: Make-up and hair demonstration at Hanyang University’s beauty department. Trip to the Art Center for a lesson on tie and dye.

Row 4: Tour of the Jeju International Convention Center.

Row 5: Winter snow on volcanic Mount Hallasan.

Row 6: A sprawling resort of traditional Korean style rooms overlooking the sea with tangerine trees well lighted at night.

Row 7: Hello Kitty suite of the Lotte Hotel.

Row 8: Hanwha Aqua Planet, the biggest aquarium in Asia covering an area 25,600 square metres that holds 10,800 tons of water – showcasing 48,000 aquatic animals of 500 species of marine life.

The Jeju Tourism Organization recently organised a familiarisation tour of Jeju Island for media from Malaysia and Singapore to learn about meetings and conventions, as well as incentives available there.

MICE in Asia would like to thank Ms Song Ha-Young and her team for arranging the trip.

Sphere Conferences and the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce & Industry (UMFCCI) announced that they will jointly organise a series of industry specific investment conferences showcasing investment opportunities in urban development, banking and finance, as well as logistics and supply chain sectors staring from May 2013.

UMFCCI has identified that these sectors require foreign investment as Myanmar seeks to modernise economy to cope and thrive in the 21st century. The Chamber of Commerce stands as a national level non-governmental organisation representing and safegurading the intereest of the private business sector. With a vast network of chambers and trade associations affliated, UMFCCI acts as a bridge between the State and the private sector.

It is also a member of the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce, ASEAN Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Greater Mekiong Sub-Region Business Forum and Joint Economic Quadrangle Committee. UMCCI has also played a key role in the formulation of the recently updated version of the foreign investment law in Myanmar.

The announcement was made during the signing ceremony between Sphere Conferences and UMFCCI in Yangon.

Once again Hong Kong’s annual ITE & MICE event will be held at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre. Exhibitors can expect B2B contacts with delegates from mainland China and around the world.

For next year’s show, the organiser expects over 12,000 visitors for the two trade days, with 20 percent from China (Guangdong), and some 70 percent from Hong Kong. Among them 5,700 will be travel agents, 3,200 MICE and corporations and around 200 hosted and registered buyers

The organiser has also plans to provide extra services to facilitate exhibitors in making B2B contacts. Exhibitors are able to utilise the organisers’ password-enabled online system for pre-appointments with buyers, weeks before the expo opens. This system is also available to buyers who however, are required to fulfill certain quotas.

For convenience, exhibitors are able to during show, rent rooms located inside the exhibition halls, to hold their own trade seminar while the organiser will promote the seminars through trade website which accepts online pre-registrations and this is for free.

From time to time, the organiser itself holds trade seminars on specific topics on cruise, wellness, honeymooning and overseas wedding and incentive schemes to outbound MICE. Speakers of these theme seminars are invited by the organiser.

For details on ITE & MICE Hong Kong, please visit www.itehk.com.

MICE in Asia is the media partner of ITE & MICE Hong Kong 2013.

From Left: Patricia Cheong (General Manager Sphere Conferences), Allen Loh (Senior Vice President, Circulation Singapore Press Holdings), Chua Wee Phong (Chairman, Sphere Conferences), U Yan Win (Chairman, Myanmar Tourism Federation), U Htay Win (Deputy Director General Directorate of Hotels and Tourism, Ministry of Hotels and Tourism), U Maung Maung Swe (Vice Chairman, Myanmar Tourism Federation), U Kyi Thein Ko (Head of Secretary, Myanmar Tourism Fedration).

The Myanmar Hospitality and Tourism Conference 2013 is positioned as the gateway for property developers, operators of hospitality and tourism properties, financiers and investors to explore, evaluate and expand the country’s potentional as a travel destination. Sphere Conferences and the Myanmar Tourism Federation (MTF) announced that they will jointly organise the country’s first hospitality and tourism investment conference to be held in Yangon from February 26 to 28 at the Traders Hotel.

At the conference, the Myanmar government will also be sharing its tourism masterplan, detailing a suite of proposals to boost the tourism sector and showcase the country’s potential projects and investment opportunities to position itself as a major tourist destination.

Sphere Conferences is a subsidiary of Singapore Press Holdings. MICE in Asia is a media partner of the Myanmar Hospitality and Tourism Conference.

This year marked the events 20th and 15th show. During the three-days, delegates had a power packed business appointments at the Bangkok Convention Centre with exhibitors representing several countries from the Asia Pacific region. Also introduced for the first time at the 2012 IT&CMA and CTW are exhibitions on luxury travel.

For the media briefings organisations such as Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), Airports of Thailand (AOT), Asian Association of Convention and Visitors Bureau (AACVB), Penang Tourism Council, Pullman Jakarta, Egyptian Tourism Office and InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) shared information on their upcoming MICE and corporate travel projects with Thai and international media.

Networking Highlights include luncheon hosted by Meetings and Exhibitions Hong Kong (MEHK) and TTG Events. IT&CMA and CTW Asia-Pacific Jubilee Dinner where delegates were treated to a Malaysian feast featuring authentic Penang cuisine courtesy of the evening’s hosts, Penang Global Tourism and TTG Events. Late Night Function was held at The Westin Grande Sukhumvit Bangkok.

The education component of the event continued full steam with seminars and conferences. The sessions as usual were scheduled in a way that allows delegates to attend them without interfering with their business appointments.

This most established travel event in Vietnam was staged from September 13 to 15 at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (SECC). The show attracted about 180 key global buyers from 33 major markets that include the ASEAN countries, Australia, Canada, China, Europe, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, North America, Russia and United Arab Emirates. Exhibitors were from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and the Asia Pacific regions such as Australia, Singapore, Egypt, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Korea, Maldives, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan and United Arab Emirates.

Considered to be the powerhouse event for The Greater Mekong Sub-REgion, this year, the show presented travel products and services of state tourism destinations of the “4-Countries-One-Destination” of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmmar and Vietnam.

The first official business day of IT&CM India began with the event’s keynote address by veteran industry speaker Martin Sirk, the chief executive officer of International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA). He addressed a packed house, and spoke about competitiveness in the international MICE space, and about how a nascent market like India needs to up its game to compete effectively.

He urged destinations and companies to leverage the power of teams, develop their service touch points and technology, harness their intellectual talent and use creativity to truly compete on an international level.

This was followed by a joint official press conference by IT&CM India and CIC. Chander Mansharamani, the vice chairman of ICPB in his speech expressed positivity about the future of India MICE. “The Ministry of Tourism is aware of the opportunity in MICE tourism and has taken a number of initiatives to make India a preferred MICE destination.”

Addressing the hot topic of the Indian visa application process, he said, “The government has taken many proactive steps to make it easier for many countries to obtain visas on arrival. These changes will be put into effect very soon.”

Over 5,000 business appointments took place from August 20 to 23. The event was held at the India Expo Centre & Mart situated in Delhi’s National Capital Region of Greater Noida, India.